Christmas Treasure (18 page)

“Sure,” Carole said, her voice coming out in a nervous squeak. “That would be wonderful.”

“Great. Then we’ll go set up outside and wait for you guys to come out.”

With that she disappeared down the hall, the two men trailing behind her. Carole felt as if she were walking through a dream, but she managed to hurry back to the mounting block.

“Okay, everybody,” she announced, her voice sounding strong once again. “I’ve got some big news. Tress Montgomery’s going to tape our caroling, and we’re going to be on TV tomorrow night!”

An excited cheer went up from the carolers.

“But right now, we need to get going and raise some money for the Marines.” Carole held up a nosebag Stevie handed her. “Stevie’s borrowed Belle’s own personal nosebag to keep our contributions in, so let’s hit the streets and see if we can’t come back with tons of money!”

“All right!” said Phil and A.J. together. Carole hopped off the mounting block, and she, Stevie, and Lisa began to lead the procession through the stable. The TV lights went on as soon as they emerged into the frosty night. They hadn’t gone more than a few feet from Pine Hollow when Max’s voice rang out behind them.

“Hey, Carole! Wait!”

Everyone stopped and looked back. Max stood in the entrance of the stable. He grinned and tugged once on a long lead rope. Prancer stepped out into the TV lights. She was wearing a bright red saddle blanket with brass sleigh bells sewn along the edges. White felt letters that
read
USMC CHRISTMAS TOY CAMPAIGN
had been glued to both sides of the blanket. Prancer seemed to smile for the camera as the TV crew rushed in for a close-up.

“Wow!” breathed Carole along with everyone else. “Prancer looks magnificent!”

Max chuckled. “Well, I guess I’ll have to tell you a little early, but I’m your Secret Santa. I thought helping you out with this campaign would be the special thing I could do for you.” Max patted a saddlebag that was slung over Prancer’s withers. “There’s also a small contribution from Deborah and me inside here, to get you started on your way.”

He grinned at the group as he handed Lisa Prancer’s lead. “I hope all of you get so much money that Prancer will have to come home at a walk!” Just then Prancer nodded her head as if in agreement. Everyone laughed.

“Thanks, Max.” Carole smiled at him. “Thanks so much!”

She looked at the group of carolers. Twenty kids, two Scotsmen, and a fabulously decorated horse. She knew already that this was going to be one night she’d remember for the rest of her life. It was almost too good to be true.

“Shall I pipe us out?” Eliot asked. “Surely I won’t terrify any horses out here.”

“Please do,” said Carole. “Play something Christmassy!”

Eliot hurried to the front of the group, with the TV
crew close behind. He took several breaths to inflate his bagpipes, then turned and began to play. “O Come, All Ye Faithful” floated through the cold air as he marched slowly to the first house with all the carolers following him.

“Gosh,” said Carole as she walked beside Prancer. “We’ve got a horse and a bagpiper and a TV news crew. Surely everyone in Willow Creek will give us money now.”

“Well, we should certainly get everyone’s attention!” Lisa said with a laugh.

At the first house, people were already waiting for them on the porch. “Mommy, look!” a little girl cried delightedly. “A horse with bells! And someone’s playing that funny instrument!” The group sang “Jingle Bells,” after which Carole ran up onto the porch and held the saddlebag out for a contribution.

“We’ve never seen anything like this before,” the little girl’s father said as he dropped a ten-dollar bill into the bag. “We’re so glad you stopped by!”

“Thank you,” Carole said. “And Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas to all of you!” the man replied. He and his family stood waving as Eliot piped the carolers on to the next house.

Everyone loved the Pine Hollow singers. By the time they reached the last street they’d planned to carol on, one side of the saddlebag was almost full.

“Looks like we’ve got a lot of money,” Lisa said as she
peered at the array of bills. “Don’t you think we need to get back to Pine Hollow? Max said the Christmas party would start at eight sharp.”

“Oh, let’s carol on one more street,” said Stevie. “This is so much fun, and if we take the shortcut through Mary Sanford’s backyard, we can carol down Clayton Lane. That’s the richest street in Willow Creek. Everybody who lives there is a millionaire!”

“Isn’t there a creek at the bottom of the Sanfords’ backyard?” Lisa asked worriedly.

“It’s no big deal,” Stevie answered. “We can all jump it.”

“But you don’t understand,” Lisa said. “The last time I rode Prancer she was shying at all water crossings. She’s gotten so she really hates them. She might even buck.”

Carole shot a worried glance at Stevie. She thought she’d gotten Prancer over her fear of water, but what if she hadn’t? If Prancer balked tonight, her whole Secret Santa project would be a flop. Still, she had to test her training method sometime, and there was a lot of money to be collected on Clayton Lane. She took a deep breath.

“Why don’t we at least give it a try? Prancer might be so excited about running around at night with bells on that she’ll forget her fear of water. Maybe if you get on one side of the creek and call her, she’ll come across with me.”

“Okay,” Lisa agreed dubiously. “I guess it’s worth a try.” Eliot piped them down Mary Sanford’s driveway. He
jumped over the small creek, and the rest of the crowd followed. Soon only Stevie, Carole, Lisa, and Prancer were left on the other side.

“Come on, Lisa,” Stevie said. “Let’s jump over. If Prancer sees you on the other bank she might go over without any problems.”

“Okay.” Lisa and Stevie hopped over the creek while Carole led Prancer to the edge of the bank.

“Okay, girl,” Carole whispered softly into Prancer’s ear. “I know it’s really cold tonight, but remember how easy this is, and how much fun it is to splash in the water.”

“Come on, Prancer,” Lisa called from the other side of the creek. “Come on over here, girl.”

Prancer’s ears pricked forward. Carole gave one gentle tug on her lead rope. Almost immediately the big horse stepped delicately across the creek, her sleigh bells jingling as she walked.

“I don’t believe it!” Lisa cried. “It’s a Christmas miracle! She’s never been that calm around water!”

Carole began to giggle. “I hate to break the news, but it’s no miracle. It’s just a little retraining.”

“Huh?” Lisa blinked.

Carole grinned. “I guess I may as well tell you now. I’m your Secret Santa. I knew Prancer’s old fear of water had returned. My dad gave me this new book about horse training, so I tried one of the techniques out on Prancer. It worked!”

“So that’s why Prancer was warm before our last couple of riding lessons!” Lisa said.

Carole nodded. “I’ve been working with her every day for the past week. We were Pine Hollow’s best-kept secret!”

“Everybody knew?” Lisa asked.

“Well, Stevie, Max, and Mrs. Reg did,” replied Carole. “And of course Prancer.” She reached over and gave Lisa a hug. “Merry Christmas!”

“Thanks, Carole!” Lisa hugged Carole back. “Now I can ride in the competition next month!”

Eliot piped them down Clayton Lane, Tress Montgomery and the TV crew reporting all the way. At first everyone was a little nervous about walking up to the mansions that lined the street, but the residents came out to greet them just as warmly as the people on the other streets had done. Everyone loved Eliot’s piping and Douglas’s kilt and the way Prancer jingled with every step. “That horse reminds me of sleigh rides in Vermont,” one man said as he dropped a twenty-dollar bill into the saddlebag.

They caroled down both sides of the street until they came to a dead end. There stood the grandest house on the street. It blazed with lights in every window, and all sorts of expensive black cars lined its driveway.

“Gosh,” Lisa said. “It looks like they’re having a party. Maybe we shouldn’t disturb them.”

“Oh, we may as well try,” said Carole. “It’s the last
house we’ve got to carol at, and they may give us some money.”

“Yeah,” agreed Stevie. “And when else are we going to get a chance to peek inside a house like that?”

“Well?” Eliot shifted the pipes on his shoulder. “Shall we give it a go?”

The girls looked at each other, then nodded. “Pipe on, Eliot!” said Carole.

“Stout lasses!” Eliot put the chanter back in his mouth and began to play. Slowly the group made its way up the hill, past all the parked cars. When everyone had gathered on the enormous front porch, Carole rang the doorbell, and Stevie led a rendition of “Silent Night.” For what seemed like a long time, no one came to the door; then it swung open. Carole had just begun to say, “Toys for needy children campaign,” when the words died in her mouth. Standing there, dressed in an elegant blue velvet gown, was the elderly woman who’d given them one of her two dollars in front of TD’s!

“Good heavens!” The woman blinked at Carole and Stevie. “You’re the girls who were collecting money at the mall!”

“And you were the poor lady who gave us your next-to-last dollar!” Stevie blurted out. Carole nudged Stevie quickly with her elbow, but the woman had heard what she’d said. She threw her head back and began to laugh.

“Well, I probably looked like that to you. I had just
come from my oil painting class, and I’d forgotten my purse. A classmate loaned me two dollars to get home. One of the dollars I gave to you, the other I used for bus fare.” She laughed again. “No wonder you two thought I was a bag lady.”

Stevie and Carole blushed with embarrassment, but the woman held the door open wide. She smiled at everybody—the carolers, Eliot, the TV crew, even Prancer in her fancy outfit.

“Please come in for some refreshments, all of you,” she said. “Or at least all of you but the horse. We’re having a party and we’ve plenty to spare!”

Lisa tied Prancer to a bush outside the house and joined the others inside. A party was indeed going on. Men dressed in tuxedos were chatting with women wearing elegant gowns. A woman was playing a grand piano in the huge living room while a black-coated butler served glasses of champagne from a huge silver tray.

The lady smiled at Carole. “If you’ll let me pass this saddlebag around the living room, I expect you’ll get some nice donations. Meanwhile, I’m going to see if I can find my purse so I can write you a check. I really admire you girls for being so determined to succeed. She turned to the butler. “Mason, would you see that our new guests get some refreshments?”

“Yes, Mrs. Llewellyn,” the butler replied in a deep voice.

Mrs. Llewellyn took Carole’s saddlebag into the living
room while Mason passed a huge tray of delicate Italian Christmas cookies among the carolers. By the time every caroler had taken a cookie, Mrs. Llewellyn had returned with the saddlebag bulging with money.

“Now, let me see,” she said absentmindedly as she handed the saddlebag to Carole. “Where did I put that purse?”

“You might try the kitchen, madam,” Mason intoned seriously. “I believe I last saw your handbag on top of the refrigerator.”

“On top of the refrigerator?” Mrs. Llewellyn frowned. “What on earth is it doing there?” She shrugged and chuckled at Carole and Stevie. “Well, just a minute, girls. You never know where things are going to turn up in this house.”

Mrs. Llewellyn hurried off down the hall. In a moment she returned with her battered purse in hand. “Well, Mason, you were right. Here it is.”

She pulled a checkbook out of her purse and leaned over a small table to scribble out a check. She signed it with a flourish and stuffed it into the saddlebag with a smile. “There!” she said. “I thank you for stopping by my house, and I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday!” She grinned at everyone. “Would you sing another song before you leave?”

“Sure,” said Stevie. She turned to Carole and smiled. “Let’s sing your mother’s Kwanzaa song.”

“You think so?” Carole’s eyes were bright.

Stevie turned to the carolers. “Okay, everybody. We’re going to sing Carole’s song. On three. One, two, three!”

All at once the song Carole’s mother had taught her so long ago began to fill the huge house. The pianist stopped playing in the living room, and all the guests came to listen to the beautiful song about love, hard work, and sharing. When the carolers finished, the entire room burst into applause.

“Thank you so much,” Mrs. Llewellyn finally said. “That was one of the loveliest songs I’ve ever heard.”

“Thanks for everything,” said Carole. “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” everyone called back.

Phil opened the huge front door, and with a chorus of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” the carolers filed out into the chilly darkness. Lisa untied Prancer from the bush, and all the way back to Pine Hollow Eliot piped “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.”

“Gosh, Stevie, this is incredible. All those rich people in there must have given us a fortune!” whispered Carole as they sang their way back to the stable.

“I know,” said Stevie, her eyes shining. “Everybody loved us and loved Eliot and Douglas and Prancer. I can hardly wait to get back and find out how much money we raised!”